My passion for food came at an early age learning to cook for my siblings growing up. I started my career straight out of college 2009 where I worked at the Gaylord Texan and at the Great Wolf Lodge.Ìý In 2014 I opened up my business where I specialized in custom cakes and small catering events. I knew from having worked with great culinary instructors and mentors that I wanted to teach one day and be just like them.Ìý My passion is the kitchen from savory to sweets and I want to share that with our futureÌý culinarians.

Since early age I have been passionate about the culinary world and everything that is food. I look forward to helping other students develop that same passion about food.

I started off by taking Culinary Arts in high school and then graduated with a BS Hospitality Management from UNT. I attended culinary school and have years of restaurant experience.

I have been in the food service and culinary industry for 10 years, I was trained in classic French cuisine at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts. I have worked in various types of kitchens from small bistros to large hotels and fine dining restaurants. From there I decided to take my skills and knowledge and put them to use in another way, and use them to teach the upcoming generations about culinary arts and hospitality. I am so excited to use my experience to help students become more creative and successful than they ever have thought was possible.

682-867-9546 Ìý Ìýamonroe@aisd.net

I cannot remember a time I did not want to be a teacher, I walked across the stage when I graduated from college and right into the classroom Monday morning to finish that school year as the teacher of record for my student teaching class! After teaching special education for 21 years, school was not as fun as it once was, and I either needed to leave or make a change. I was not the best teacher I could be for my students, nor the asset to my school I had been in the past. I added Family and Consumer Sciences to my teaching certificate and moved downstairs at Lamar where I had been teaching special education for the last 14 years to teach Nutrition and Food Management, Interpersonal Relationships, and Introduction to Human Services. School was fun again, I enjoyed the kids again, and I loved the challenge of a new discipline. I had the opportunity to be a part of the opening faculty at the Dan Dipert Career + Technical Center in 2017 and jumped at the chance! Being on the opening faculty at the CTC has been full of challenges, fun, and growth. I have had the opportunity to teach Travel & Tourism, Culinary Arts 1, Practicum in Culinary Arts, Hospitality, and Human Services, Student Leadership as well as support teachers teaching Hospitality, Cosmetology, and Education & Training as the Workforce Pathway Chair. I love being a part of the Ferret Family, supporting new teachers, and being challenged to be better every day as a teacher! Watching students find their next chapter, hidden talents, and passions while making sure they are college and career ready is what keeps me in the classroom. I facilitate the Texas Rangers Richard Greene Scholar Program for the district. This program is a unique experience of honing leadership qualities through community service and making connections in our community by participating in internships and rotations throughout Arlington. More information about this program can be found through the traditional high school counselors or the ¼«ËÙÁùºÏ²Ê website.

Alma Mater:

Lamar High School 1988

University of Oklahoma 1993, BS Special Education

University of North Texas 1995, MEd

Education Escoffier International Culinary School 2015 , Fundamentals, Baking & Pastry

I got my passion for cooking early on from my family, growing up every meal was special and made with love. As I grew up and graduated from high school I realized that my path was leading me down the culinary path. I graduated from culinary school at El Centro College here in Dallas, TX and dove head first into the food industry; I started teaching cooking classes at Sur la Table and began a cooking club for a middle school in Dallas. As my teaching experience grew so did my love and passion for teaching others, especially children. That is why I have chosen to teach, educate and inspire the future generations in the culinary field so as to maybe spark passion in the kitchen and more appreciation for the food we eat . As my favorite chef Anthony Bourdain once said. "Food is everything we are, It's an extension of your personal history, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It's inseparable from those from the get-go."

Alma Mater:

El Centro - Assoc. of Applied Science in Culinary Arts